Incinerator debate: Deputy is told off for being late
Wednesday 25th February 2009, 2:59PM GMT.
THE States debate to stop the £106m incinerator being built got off to a bizarre start yesterday when the proposer missed the beginning of the sitting and then kept Members waiting while he went to look through his notes.
The Deputy Bailiff, Michael Birt, sternly rebuked Deputy Daniel Wimberley, whose introductory speech lasted almost three hours, for not turning up to put scheduled questions to ministers and not being ready to start the debate when it was listed.
Mr Birt told the newly-elected Deputy for St Mary: ‘It is quite unacceptable, the way you have conducted yourself this morning. ‘First of all you do not bother to turn up for questions you have asked. And you now are not ready to start this debate when it is listed.
‘This is not a school society; it is not a debating club. It is a parliamentary assembly, and Members must conduct themselves properly. They are being paid, apart from anything else, a considerable sum to do so.’
Deputy Wimberley apologised ‘unreservedly’ for the delay when his speech resumed after the lunch adjournment. The debate continues.
• Picture: Deputy Wimberley heads for the States to make his bid to stop the incinerator being built. Picture by Richard Wainwright (00631301)
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Clearly Deputy Wimberley has no concern over the publics money as he is more then happy to throw away £50M of our tax money in breaking a contract. This has been debated in the past and it was agreed. Why is this debate even being allowed to go ahead?…
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Clearly the electorate have indicated to Deputy Wimberley that they are not happy at the prospect of £200M of their money being spent on something that they are uncertain is the best solution for waste disposal in Jersey.
By challenging this decision he is doing what he is paid to do – represent the people who elected him.
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Danny,
Deputy Wimberley’s proposition will save 10-15 million of tax payers money.
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What a shambles his whole presentation of the proposition was. Even disregarding his rudeness and lateness (for which he did apologise….eventually) he rambled from one point to another and was so disorganised. How on earth did he hope to persuade anyone that he might be suggesting a viable alternative – how could you trust someone that chaotic to have a plan??? I would suggest the waste of money would have been higher….£50million plus £43k !!!!
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Interesting that Michael Birt should mention the fact that States Membersare paid.
If we were to use those criteria with regard to the extremely well paid crown officers, Deputy Wimberly’s ‘shortcomings’ would appear negligible to the point of non existence.
The pomposity with which these men discharge their office is offensive. How dare he belittle an elected representative for mere procedural inconveniences? Is it not beyond his excessively well remunerated ken to move on to the next item of the agenda until such time as this hard working, well meaning, un-aided by departmental Sir Humphries, novice is ready? (By the way I know nothing of the incinerator debate.)
Tuesday after Tuesday we can hear for ourselves how some members are granted from the Chair license of alarming elasticity. How do you get to be in that club?
Grow up Jersey and reject this feudal, expensive and not infallible subservience.
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For Pete’s sake, long term and not quick fix.. I would probably be a bit like Dep Wimberley if I was in a position of having to argue humility and common sense to a bunch of cold blooded lizards aswell… It seems that some people forget how they got where they are, oh yes, with taxpayers money too.
Help is there a customer complaints board were we can dispute and make sure my taxes are being allocated accordingly??
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If he was so committed and so concerned, he might have bothered to turn up on time and be prepared. If he is so disrespectful to his States colleagues, why should they show any respect to him? The man is a shambles, like many of the rest of the new intake, who have difficulty stringing two words together, never mind a parliamentary debate.
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The States have successfully overseen the decimation of the Island, wait for them to do the same with the coastal waters!!!!
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All Mr Wimberly’s moves appear to make sense and be for the general benifit of the islnad, even if he is late i am confident he has a good reason for this.
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Nellie. This man was elected by 200 odd people in St Mary’s having been soundly rejected by an Island wide mandate.It is the views of the majority that should prevail and non of your so-called opposition candidates came anywhere in an Island election. I am sure you will remind me that if you add up all of the opposition votes they totalled more than that of the supposed establishment but that is the nature of first past the post so we have to accept it.
I am always shocked when this States Chamber makes a decision of any type (other than on their own next pay rise) without going back and redebating every issue. This feels like Queen’s Valley all over again
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It is not Deputy Wimberley that should be ticked off…it’s the states assembly who agreed to spend £106,000,000 when, as Deputy Wimberley has shown conclusively, £35,000,000 would have given Jersey a much better waste management scheme.
Our states have overspent approx. £70,000,000 on an inferior scheme!!!
Now tell me again… who are the real plonkers here?
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Nellie – where do you get the £200m figure from?
The proposals for a smaller incinerator were around £50m. Add that to the cost of breaking the contract and you’ve got the £106m the current plans are going to cost. What a waste of time!
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12 Joker – £200M comes from £106M + cost of slip road, cost of moving the Connex building (they’ll have to do that eventually as it’s too close to the new incinerator), cost of moving fuel farm, cost of shipping flyash to Norway (this will be a continual cost and is Norway going to charge us for taking it?), additional costs in trucking waste from Bellozane to La Collette and so it goes on – I think £200M is actually going to be a very conservative figure as I’m sure there are a lot more costs TTS haven’t divulged to us yet. I wonder what the life of the JEC chimney is projected to be and how soon this is going to have to be replaced for instance bearing in mind that it’s been in place for a considerable time and TTS tell us the expected life of a car park is only 25 years?
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As per Queens Valley it was wrong to flood it as it was National Trust land given in confidence that it wouldn’t be changed, or built on. This goes against all the National Trust stands for and I believe means any National Trust land in future can be developed in any way the states see fit. So much for “in perpetuity” on any gifts of land.
As per the incineration the question should be how come someone can hold the island to ransome by signing a piece of paper? Whoever did this deal made a bad mistake by having this clause in it. I am disguised that someone can force us to take up something the majority do not want by putting in a 50% get out clause. It is beyond a joke no wonder people are sick and tired of the States and the way they run the island.
As far as I am concerned this project is a waste of time and money. I believe it will pollute the town and the Ramsar site, look an eye sore to match Radisson’s, cost more than origionally said, be obsolete by the time it is in and working, cause the necessary removal of other businesses at La Collette. In other words this project will be over ambitious for Jersey’s needs and will have many hidden costs that we will find out later on. I am also sure the States will say that these other issues are not connected to the incinerator but I will not believe them.
This island is becoming more and more of a laughing stock with every passing day.
As an aside I would far rather listen to and heed the advice of Deputy Wimberly than some of the other so called establishment people who appear uninterested in the average person over here.
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10. Geno – the general reaction from the electorate that I heard following the senatorial elections was “How on earth did the old guard get back in when we voted for new people?” They were stunned, shocked and extremely disappointed. We know of course that the vote was divided between too many candidates and that is why the people they did want in the first place as Senators, made it as Deputies. Shame Cliff Le Clercq didn’t try in his home parish as the electorate there were extremely disappointed to have an uncontested election – he would probably have got in!
Deputy Wimblerly is not the best of speakers but he is highly intelligent and very well informed. Not everyone is a born speaker and that should not prevent anyone from seeking election – a good heart, the right motive, a willingness to listen and commonsense are the essential requirements – all too often sadly lacking!
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Phil – that is an interesting use of the word ‘conclusively’. Wimberley’s arguments gave every appearance of having been cobbled together from Google, the back of a cornflakes packet, and some bloke down the pub who told him so.
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I can’t help but agree with my namesake – Deputy Bailiff Michael Birt – A 3 hr introduction to any important discussion is extraordinarily long. It’s obviously an imprtant subject, but for heaven’s sake, it’s not a detailed proposition to end world poverty or solve the world economic problems. A good speech is a short speech.
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